Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

FARMERS’ WILLINGNESS TO PAY FOR TANK MAINTENANCE ANDCONSERVATION – AN ECONOMIC VALUATION APPROACH

G. Arun Prasath, D. Velmurugan and R. Venkataraman

Abstract

Contingent Valuation Method involves a resource by imputing a monetary value on the response of thepeople affected by the change in the state of the resource. In this study, contingent valuation method isused to study the factors influencing farmers decision on willingness to pay and payment levels for tankmaintenance and conservation and to rank the reasons for farmers willingness to pay and non-willingnessto pay. Two tanks surrounding the Noyyal river in Tirupur district of Tamil Nadu namely, Manickapuramtank and Anaipalayam tank were selected purposively. A quota of 30 farmers surrounding each tank wererandomly selected and interviewed for willingness to pay after clearly explaining the benefits of tankrehabilitation, maintenance and conservation. The collected data were analyzed using Logistic, Multipleregression and Garette ranking technique. The study revealed that past benefit had a greater influence onfarmers decision on Willingness to pay. Age, Education, Farm income, Farming experience anLand holdinginfluences the payment levels. The study also identified and ranked the reasons for farmers willingness topay and non-willingness to pay. Finally, the study recommends the farmers to construct small percolationponds for improving the quality of groundwater.